Sugar beets are one type of root vegetable that is cultivated and harvested in large quantities. Sugar beets and other similar root vegetables can be harvested using a harvester having sets of puller wheels that are attached to a frame that is drawn along the ground behind a tractor, the puller wheels gripping and pulling each sugar beet from the ground. In this type of harvester, each pair of puller wheels are aligned with each row of beets, and the wheels are canted at an angle relative to each other and relative to the direction of motion of the tractor. This angle of the wheels relative to the direction of the pulling vehicle causes the wheels to rotate as they are drawn along the ground, and to dig into the ground. The angle of the wheels relative to each other causes them to grip the sugar beets as the device rolls along, grabbing and pulling them out of the ground.
As is well known, however, sugar beets are not always of a consistent size. Depending on weather conditions, soil conditions, and other variables, the average size of beets in a given beet crop can vary. If the beet puller wheels are too far apart for the average size of a given crop, they will not effectively pull the bees out of the ground. On the other hand, if the puller wheels are too close together, the wheels will tend to damage the crop, which will reduce crop yield. Prior sugar beet puller wheel sets are generally fixed in their positioning, and with many of them the gap between adjacent wheels can only be changed by unbolting the wheels and inserting spacers to increase the gap. This sort of adjustment is complicated and time-consuming.
The present application is directed to one or more of the above issues.